A musical tribute and memories of his mother
For a musician there is no better way to pay tribute to a loved one than in song.
Before a crowd of more than 800, John Schmid did just that when he presented a concert in honor of his late mother – Lorain Schmid – at the John Streeter Garden Amphitheater at Secrest Arboretum August 21.
During the concert, which lasted for more than 90 minutes, sponsored by the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, Schmid interspersed memories of his mother with musical performances ranging from country and gospel music to folk songs of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Despite the steady rain that soaked the concertgoers during the first half of the concert, no one in the crowd made a move as Schmid and his talented band also presented an hourlong tribute to the country music legend that significantly influenced both his music and his life – Johnny Cash.
Schmid, a former country singer who traded his dreams of stardom in Nashville for the ministry, is the founder and director of Common Ground Ministries, a unique singing ministry based out of Berlin that focuses on prisons in the Ohio corrections system.
According to Schmid, during an average year this ministry goes into more than 50 prisons and 30 churches and performs at numerous concerts, seminars, camps, crusades and street fairs. The group also provides Bibles and Bible correspondence courses to prisoners in the Ohio system at no cost.
Schmid himself has recorded more than a dozen country, gospel, bluegrass and folk albums, including tribute albums to Johnny Cash and the family of June Carter Cash, both of which were recorded in Cash’s own private studio - the Cash Cabin Studio - just outside Nashville, Tenn.
Schmid performed the music he loved as a tribute to his mother, Lorain Schmid, who passed away in April 2011.
Throughout the concert Schmid delighted the crowd with family stories and his remembrances of his mother’s incredible 39-year tenure as a volunteer with the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary.
According to Carla Redick, Wooster Community Hospital volunteer services coordinator, the auxiliary, whose mission is to help, comfort and promote the well-being of Wooster Community Hospital patients and their families, celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
Since its founding in 1951, members of the auxiliary have given countless hours of service to the hospital.
Last year alone, Redick said, auxiliary members provided 32,000 hours of volunteer time.
In addition to volunteering their time assisting the hospital staff, the auxiliary also provides complimentary valet parking at the hospital and has donated transportation vans and furnishings for lobbies and family care rooms. The group has also provided more than 250 free mammograms to qualifying patients.
Redick noted that Schmid will reprise his performance Dec. 16 in Bruch Hall at the First Presbyterian Church in Wooster when he presents a very special selection of holiday music during a benefit concert to support the organization that was so dear to his mother’s heart.
The final details on Schmid’s concert to benefit the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, including information on how to purchase the limited number of tickets that will be available for the concert, can be obtained in November by calling 330-263-8299.
For more information on the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, call Redick at 330-263-8299 or log on the hospital website at http://www.woosterhospital.org.
Information on John Schmid’s music and ministry can be found at http://www.JohnSchmid.com.
Before a crowd of more than 800, John Schmid did just that when he presented a concert in honor of his late mother – Lorain Schmid – at the John Streeter Garden Amphitheater at Secrest Arboretum August 21.
During the concert, which lasted for more than 90 minutes, sponsored by the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, Schmid interspersed memories of his mother with musical performances ranging from country and gospel music to folk songs of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Despite the steady rain that soaked the concertgoers during the first half of the concert, no one in the crowd made a move as Schmid and his talented band also presented an hourlong tribute to the country music legend that significantly influenced both his music and his life – Johnny Cash.
Schmid, a former country singer who traded his dreams of stardom in Nashville for the ministry, is the founder and director of Common Ground Ministries, a unique singing ministry based out of Berlin that focuses on prisons in the Ohio corrections system.
According to Schmid, during an average year this ministry goes into more than 50 prisons and 30 churches and performs at numerous concerts, seminars, camps, crusades and street fairs. The group also provides Bibles and Bible correspondence courses to prisoners in the Ohio system at no cost.
Schmid himself has recorded more than a dozen country, gospel, bluegrass and folk albums, including tribute albums to Johnny Cash and the family of June Carter Cash, both of which were recorded in Cash’s own private studio - the Cash Cabin Studio - just outside Nashville, Tenn.
Schmid performed the music he loved as a tribute to his mother, Lorain Schmid, who passed away in April 2011.
Throughout the concert Schmid delighted the crowd with family stories and his remembrances of his mother’s incredible 39-year tenure as a volunteer with the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary.
According to Carla Redick, Wooster Community Hospital volunteer services coordinator, the auxiliary, whose mission is to help, comfort and promote the well-being of Wooster Community Hospital patients and their families, celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
Since its founding in 1951, members of the auxiliary have given countless hours of service to the hospital.
Last year alone, Redick said, auxiliary members provided 32,000 hours of volunteer time.
In addition to volunteering their time assisting the hospital staff, the auxiliary also provides complimentary valet parking at the hospital and has donated transportation vans and furnishings for lobbies and family care rooms. The group has also provided more than 250 free mammograms to qualifying patients.
Redick noted that Schmid will reprise his performance Dec. 16 in Bruch Hall at the First Presbyterian Church in Wooster when he presents a very special selection of holiday music during a benefit concert to support the organization that was so dear to his mother’s heart.
The final details on Schmid’s concert to benefit the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, including information on how to purchase the limited number of tickets that will be available for the concert, can be obtained in November by calling 330-263-8299.
For more information on the Wooster Community Hospital Auxiliary, call Redick at 330-263-8299 or log on the hospital website at http://www.woosterhospital.org.
Information on John Schmid’s music and ministry can be found at http://www.JohnSchmid.com.
Published: August 24, 2011
